10+ Daily Action Plan Examples – PDF

How many times have you heard people (or yourself) complain about the inadequacy of twenty-four hours in a day to accomplish everything you have set out to do? Between your job responsibilities, spending time with your family, allotting a healthy time for your social life, pampering yourself, while still getting enough hours of sleep on top of it all just seems to be a lot to fit into a day. You may also see corrective action plan examples.

With that being said, we can all agree that it’s important that we all develop at least a sense of arrangement for the number of things we decide to do for the day to make sure that not even a minute of that already too short span of time will be wasted. You may also like budget action plan examples.

Blank Daily Action Planner

Daily Action Plan Layout Example

Planning the Day Ahead

For those of us who are filled to the brim with activities for the day, not planning ahead may force us to be limited only by the work that comes to us, instead of taking care of the duties we are supposed to perform. This lack of uncertainty on how productive we are designing our days to be can’t have very positive results. You may also see restaurant action plan examples.

Preparing your day in advance doesn’t have to mean that you are overcrowding your calendar with good intentions. It simply means that you are deciding to organize and prioritize the actions that you most need to pay attention to, while being prepared for difficulties and setbacks you might face along the day. You may also like employee action plan examples.

Creating an action plan can help you move through your everyday activities with ease knowing that each action you are investing your time in is important to help you achieve whatever long-term goal you may have for yourself. It can give you the sense of being efficient because you have chosen to focus on the important endeavors for the day. It also provides you with the feeling of having your life under your own control, which can help alleviate stress and anxiety.

Daily Action Planning vs. Procrastination

A daily action plan’s main purpose is to help you conquer that untiringly present habit of postponing the activities until later (probably for something useless like scrolling through your social media account) instead of setting out to work on your goals. The great thing about daily action plans is that it’s simple and unstructured. You can easily adjust it based on your routine plus the tasks you need to accomplish.

Modernized time management tells us that the best way to organize our day’s activities is by listing down our tasks for the day (much like a to-do-list). However, this technique doesn’t always work. In fact, the decision-making process involved in prioritizing the events can even add to your stress. You may also check out sales action plan examples.

This is why a lot of boxes in our to-do-list are still unchecked because the sheer amount of tasks we put in them is already exhausting. Unsurprisingly, the answer to this dilemma is simple. Instead of creating a long list of what-to-dos, creating a shorter one, and breaking down these tasks into action steps is proven to be more effective. You might be interested in strategic action plan examples.

This is how you can not only beat procrastination but also make your day productive. With a well-planned daily action plan, your day doesn’t have to be overwhelming or fruitless, but a perfect balance in between.

Flood Recovery Daily Action Plan Example

Daily Business Action Plan Example

Benefits of Using a Daily Action Plan

Aside from the already huge help in overcoming laziness and procrastination, a daily action plan also has many other benefits:

1. With a daily action plan, you won’t have to keep a mental note of things you still have to do since you already have them carefully laid out (like the organized creature that you are).

2. Keeping an action plan will also help you make sure that you have not forgotten to attend an important meeting, or make a phone call, or run an errand because your essential tasks for the day are all listed in the document.

3. You can avoid feeling anxious about still having a lot to do in such little time because you have already strategically planned your day ahead, and if you’ve done a good job at that, it means you’ll have enough time to accomplish everything in your list with time to spare.

4. Having a daily action plan, believe it or not, can help you relax mentally knowing that you have things under your control, and that the day won’t end with an unfinished task.

5. Planning your day using this tool can also help you prepare yourself for what is ahead. Both your body and mind can start rehearsing for the many tasks it will have to perform. You may also see free employee action plan examples.

6.Writing a daily action plan is a lot like taking some of your thoughts and transferring them on paper, leaving your mind with less things to worry out.

7. You won’t have to spend the evening already stressing about the day ahead because, as we’ve already mentioned, you already have everything under your control. This can make it possible for you to relax and enjoy your time instead of worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet. You may also like research action plan examples.

8. With a daily action plan in your possession, you can say goodbye to the exhausting task of taking your day ahead piece by piece, and trying to create a mental image of it. Why would you feel the need for that when you already have a written version? You may also check out sales action plan examples.

9. Most importantly, having a daily action plan can give you a sense of order in your day, which means that you have more chances of going through your tasks more easily and systematically.

Creative Daily Action Plan Example

Editable Daily Action Plan Example

Why You Need a Daily Action Plan

Here are seven reasons why you absolutelyneed to make a daily action plan for your everyday tasks:

1. Having a daily action plan gives you a clear direction of where to go.

Having a lot of things to do often leave us overwhelmed, and this in turn can make us feel lost. “What do I do first?” “Where do I go next?” “How will I ever finish all this in time?” These are only a few of the questions that force tears out of our eyes whenever we notice that the day is already over but our tasks aren’t. A clear advantage of having a simple action plan when this happens is that you have a reference to get you back on track. After all, clarity is power.

2. Your action plan helps you give undivided attention to your tasks.

Since you already know the things you must do for the day, you will no longer feel inclined to engage in activities that are in no way relevant to your professional goals. It allows you to concentrate on the important tasks instead.

3. You become more committed.

The only way to become truly productive is to commit yourself to your planned tasks for the day. And if you took the time to simply write down your goals, it shows that you are willing to work hard to achieve them.

4. It can help you track your own progress.

One of the most encouraging things that can help us do better at anything is the thought that we are actually moving forward. By having a daily action plan, you can see how much you’ve achieved or how behind you are in your better goals. The former would make you feel rewarded while the latter will inspire you to work harder. In any case, there sure is apparent improvement.

5. You will feel more motivated and driven.

Giving yourself the chance to list down your goals and arrange them in a way that will make them seem achievable will make you feel that you can actually do it. Creating a general action plan and writing a step-by-step strategy to reach them will make the journey easier. Hence, you will feel more enthused to take on the tasks ahead because success is a promised reward.

Simple Daily Action Plan Example

Formal Daily Action Plan Example

Creating a Daily Action Plan

Now that we have talked about all the good things that come to people who take the time to create a daily action plan, let us proceed to learning how to make one. Similar the product itself, the process is fairly simple:

1. Sit down on Sundays to schedule your whole week out.

It’s best to start your planning on the night before the nightmare starts. Sundays are usually the calm before the storm. Take advantage of that and plan your week ahead. Create pointers on your top priorities for that week to make sure you make the most out of your seven days.

2. Meal plan.

If you are living alone, or with a family of four, meal planning is probably one of the most time-consuming part of your week. Well, maximize your time by already planning out the dishes you will prepare. You can even add post-its beside them to remind you of the ingredients you need to restock on.

3. Career.

Make sure to take note of any specific responsibility you have to catch up on for that week.

4. Insert “me time”

Productivity can’t be achieved without a healthy dose of self-pampering. Your me time should be absolutely non-negotiable. This can be a good workout session at the gym, or spa day, or even a quiet night with a good book. The point is, save a little time for yourself by doing one activity you love. You may also see community action plan examples.

5. Plan a little each night.

Even if you’re bone-tired (but hopefully satisfied) from how your day went, take at least five minutes before you sleep to plan what you’re going to do the next day. You probably won’t have time to do this in the morning when you’re rushing from one task to another, so don’t fail to do it now. You may also like team action plan examples.

6. Take the time to savor your success.

At the end of the week, when you finally have the time to take a step back from the constant rush that is now your life, give yourself the chance to look back at all that you’ve done and congratulate yourself for another week of being productive. You may also check out career action plan examples.

7. Put things into perspective.

Feeling overwhelmed by our day-to-day activities can’t be avoided. When this happens, try to remind yourself of your top three goals for that week to help you put things back into perspective.

Personal Daily Action Plan Example

Basic Daily Action Plan Example

How to Effectively Use Your Daily Action Plan

Simply creating a daily action plan will not help you achieve anything. You must try to stick to it as much as you can. Here are a few tips on how you can successfully do that:

1. Reassess your action play every evening. Before leaving your office, after your evening meal, or right before you turn off your bedside lamp are excellent opportunities for this.

2. Keep on listing the things that needs your attention the next day. The daily action plan you have created shouldn’t remain stagnant, especially since unexpected circumstances are likely to arise.

3. Estimate the time you think each task will take so that you can effectively budget your time.

4. Give task a star rating based on importance.

5. If you have tasks for which you have no time today, remove them, and put them on the list of tasks you have reserved the next day. But do this only for tasks that are not very urgent in comparison to the others. You may also see remedial action plan examples.

6. Finally, list the things that you will do, when you will do them, and how long it will take for you to finish them. Make sure that you keep at least 20% of your day unplanned to serve as your comfort margin so that you will have space for things you haven’t included in your plan. You may also like teacher action plan examples.

7. Once everything has been planned out, try to stop thinking about tomorrow. When your brain starts being apprehensive of the day to come, think about the daily action plan you have created and trust that everything has been taken care of.